JustBritish

The Acabion GTBO reaches 300mph in just thirty seconds, say its designers. The “road streamliner” is capable of 340mph and can do 0 – 300mph in just thirty seconds Based on the cockpit of a jet fighter and using aerodynamic techniques used in aerospace design, the GTBO is a full 90mph quicker than its nearest rival, the Bugatti Veyron, which takes 55 seconds to reach its 250mph top speed.

Two-wheeled, but with twin stabilizing wheels at the back for low-speed maneuvering – not unlike those used on children’s bicycles – the GTBO packs an astonishing 800 brake horsepower in its 1,300cc turbo-charged engine. However, it weighs just 700lb, half the weight of the original Mini.

The engine and power train are designed in Britain by engineers from the race and dragster community.
An electric version, itself capable of 300mph, is also planned. Its designer, Dr Peter Maskus – a former engineer for Porsche – denies that it is a car or a motorbike at all, preferring to describe it as a “road streamliner”.

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Caterham Cars has joined forces with RS Performance to offer “the ultimate in bespoke Seven coachbuilding” to enthusiasts who want an expression of British sports car exclusivity.

Caterham has long been the epitome of personalized motoring with almost every version of the 12 000 Sevens on the road differing from one another. The joint venture takes that famous philosophy to an altogether new level.

RS Performance is an exclusive, niche engineering house. Born out of the passion and pedigree of its founder, Russell Savory, it will offer an “everything is possible” service to Caterham customers who want truly “built to order” cars.

Using the motorsport-honed Caterham chassis and benchmark technology as a cosmetic and engineering base, RS Performance, will “turn imagination into reality”, Savory said.

The heartbeat of every RS-badged Seven will be the unique RST-V8 engine.
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Tata Motors will announce its purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover on March 5 or 6.

The dates have been agreed between Tata and Ford Motor Co., which is selling the two luxury brands, following talks with union leaders last week.

Roger Maddison, national officer of Unite, the largest union in the UK auto industry, told Automotive News Europe that Tata had agreed to meet guarantees sought by union leaders.

He said, “Everything seems fine as far as we are concerned; it’s just the lawyers working on it now.”

Union leaders spoke with Ford and Tata to resolve final details before the drawing up of a memorandum of understanding for the sale.
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Mini has crowned its lineup with a second-generation version of the John Cooper Works.

Shown just over a week ahead of an official unveiling at the Geneva motor show, the new go-fast Mini is planned to head to the United States in August in two distinct body styles in a move aimed at seeing it appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

As with the second generation of the Mini Cooper S–on sale in North America since 2007, buyers will be able to choose between a standard two-door or roomier three-door Clubman at $28,550 and $30,800, respectively.

Both models run the same turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder direct injection gasoline engine–the result of a joint venture between Mini parent company, BMW, and French car maker Peugeot.

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The Telegraph is reporting that Ulrich Bez has not just been turning around legendary car maker Aston Martin, but he has been leading them to profit.

To quote the Telegraph, “Are profits still growing? Aston Martin has not yet published its 2007 financial results but Bez says: ‘Usually when there is a change of ownership you can say that a company will go through a difficult time for a year or two. We have not seen any of that. We have not lost any of the motivation that we had under Ford where we were a very enthusiastic team. We have been profitable since the last quarter of 2005 and we have increased that profitability year on year.’”

Marking the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the ERA (‘English Racing Automobiles Limited’) – the first-ever British specialist company to manufacture single-seat, open-wheeled racing cars for customer sale – Bonhams will auction the first prototype ERA at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 11 July 2008.

The ERA marque played a pivotal role in British motor sporting history. From 1934- 1938, these British racing cars toppled the former supremacy of the Italian Maserati cars in their International ‘Voiturette’ competition class – effectively Formula Two or Grand Prix Two level. They performed incredible service, also graduating to contemporary Grand Prix racing pre-World War Two and then from 1948-51 to Formula One.

Chassis no. ‘R1A’ – to be sold by Bonhams – was first driven by Raymond Mays at ERA’s public debut in testing at Brooklands on 22 May 1934. Trouble in practice for its first race in the Mannin Moar event at Douglas, Isle of Man on 30 May saw Raymond Mays non-start but he and Humphrey Cook then co-drove the new car in its true race debut, the British Empire Trophy at Brooklands on 23 June. There again on 6 August, Raymond Mays finished 2nd in an Esher Mountain Handicap, and set the class lap record at 76.31mph.
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